The May fourth movement

Abstract

Extract

The May Fourth (1919) Movement, by all accounts, is one of the watershed marks in modern Chinese history. Within the space of a few years, Chinese nationalism burst upon the scene with unprecedented force and rapidity, transforming the Chinese political landscape for the rest of the twentieth century. This surge of nationalism was accompanied by iconoclastic rejection of nearly all aspects of traditional Chinese culture. This “totalistic iconoclasm,” to use the phrase of Lin Yü-sheng, was widespread, to be sure, only among the relatively educated elite members of society. Nevertheless, coming simultaneously with the rise of nationalism, the extent of such hostility to Chinese tradition is more surprising than its limitations. As with May Fourth Chinese nationalism, May Fourth antitraditionalism was to become a dominant, perhaps even decisive, theme in the Chinese communist revolution. As Lucien Bianco has observed, the May Fourth Movement represented a spiritual revolution experienced by the future leaders of the Communist Party, who would try after 1949 to impart that same revolution to the rest of the Chinese people.     

The Nation and its Sermons: Islam,Kemalism and the Presidency of Religious Affairs in Turkey

This article will attempt to develop an in-depth examination of the pivotal role of Islam in the articulation of Turkish nationalism and Turkish official identity by examining the sermons authorized and imposed by the Presidency of Religious Affairs (PRA), the state agency regulating religion, and how the their cosmologies of social, moral and political order are entwined. We will further argue that this role involves a twofold process; firstly, the Muslim identity was imagined as a prerequisite for being considered as a Turk and a Turkish citizen and, secondly, the ‘cultural intimacy’ of Turkish nationalism is grounded on the ‘root paradigms’ inherited and attained from the Islamic tradition and theology. These arguments are particularly pertinent at a time when Islamist JDP (Justice and Development Party) consolidated its power and began to instrumentalize PRA for its priorities and visions of Islam. This, however, does not bring a radical reshuffling of PRA. On the contrary, the continuity from the Kemalist-monitored PRA to the JDP-monitored PRA can be attested not only in its organizational features but also in its ideological make up; especially in terms of its perceptions of society, state and social order.     

Anti-Japanese Popular Nationalism and China’s Approach Towards Japan amid Sino-Japanese Political Tension, 2001–2006

This paper explores the relationship between anti-Japanese popular nationalism and China’s approach towards Japan amid Sino-Japanese political tension from 2001 to mid-2006. Among various factors that may affect the relationship, this research focuses on the interaction between the government and the public expressions of anti-Japanese nationalism in China. Throughout most of this period, Sino-Japanese political relations were seriously strained by historical, territorial and other controversial issues, which stirred up anti-Japanese sentiment in China. However, it was only between 2003 and the spring of 2005 that mass anti-Japanese protests were allowed, or at least tolerated, by the Chinese authorities and played a role in Beijing’s handling of Japan-related controversies. The paper examines China’s domestic political situation during the leadership transition from the third to fourth generation of leaders, which it claims drove the Chinese government’s lenient response to popular anti-Japanese protests and enhanced the prospects for popular nationalism to affect the government’s approach towards Japan.     

Sms,Communication, And Citizenship In China's Information Society

ABSTRACT

China has entered a new information age that calls for a reconsideration of some key presuppositions about the relationship between Chinese media, communication, society, and culture. These include stereotypes that dominate representations and understandings of China such as the appealing, though too simple, model of propaganda versus free speech and political repression versus democracy or those anticipating the emergence of a more or less Habermasian “public sphere.” Taking the example of mobile phone short messaging services (SMS), this article investigates the transforming relationships between Chinese media, power, political subjectivity, and citizenship. SMS now constitutes an important new set of communication practices in China. It is more widely used than the Internet and by a more diverse section of the population. In early 2005 per person, fifteen times more SMS messages than emails were being sent in China. Putting forward the idea of “orderly” and “disorderly” media it is suggested that while the Party voices its own rhetorics from the past, many people, particularly in the large metropolitan centres, are driving their own alternative visions of the future and forcing the authorities to engage with entirely new kinds of media practices that pose quite different challenges to those of the past.     

The limits of feminist political intervention in Singapore

This article uncovers the strongly ideological quality in Singapore's theory and practice of pragmatism. It also points to a strongly pragmatic quality in the ideological negotiations that play out within the dynamics of hegemony. In this complex relationship, the combination of ideological and pragmatic manoeuvring over the decades has resulted in the historic political dominance of the People's Action Party (PAP) government in partnership with global capital. But in an evolving, diversifying and globalising society, this manoeuvring has also engendered a number of mismatched expectations. It has also seen a greater sensitivity and attention to the inherent ideological contradictions and socio-economic inequalities that may erode what has been a relatively stable partnership between state and capital. This article argues that Singapore's one-party dominant state is the result of continuous ideological work that deploys the rhetoric of pragmatism to link the notion of Singapore's impressive success and future prospects to its ability to attract global capital. In turn, this relies on maintaining a stable political system dominated by an experienced, meritocratic and technocratic PAP government. While this Singaporean conventional wisdom has supported the political and economic interests of the state and global capital in a period of neo-liberal globalisation, its internal contradictions and external pressures have also begun to challenge its hegemonic pre-eminence.     

Contested Discourse,Contested Power: Nationalism and the Left in Paraguay

Nationalism has been a key, but generally overlooked, component of twentieth‐century Paraguayan politics and an important explanatory factor in the country’s political outcomes. Indeed, it has been central to the struggle for political power, most significantly to the continuing hegemony of the Colorado Party. This article traces the development of the Paraguayan Left, highlighting its structural and functional weaknesses, and analyses its relationship with nationalism, in particular with the dominant Colorado nationalist discourse. It argues that an important failure of the Left – and indeed other political parties and movements – has been its inability to produce a successful challenge to this hegemonic discourse.     

习近平用典的理论维度和政治艺术

用典,是一种重要的修辞手法。善于用典是无产阶级领袖政治艺术的重要体现。习近平总书记在党的十八大以来的一系列重要讲话、演讲和文章中,对于古今中外的典故,旁征博引、信手拈来,诠释精彩独到,寓意深刻隽永,展现了他精湛的用典艺术、非凡的政治智慧和高超的政治艺术。习近平用典涉猎范围宽广,形式丰富,并具有多视角和多维度的特点。他善用传统经典演绎治国方略,善用红色经典传承革命基因,善用中外经典诠释中国故事,善用自己的人生故事启迪后俊。因此,学习感悟习近平的用典艺术,对于提高领导干部的理论修养、政治水平、文化涵养和沟通表达能力具有十分重要的理论价值和现实意义。     

Media effects on political confidence and trust in the People's Republic of China in the post-Tiananmen period

Based on a nationwide survey conducted in mainland China between September 1993 and June 1994, this study explores the impact of propaganda of the Communist government on people's attitudes toward specific political institutions and toward the government in general. Our study shows that the news media in China have negative effects on people's attitudes toward political institutions in general and make people distrust government. Several competing interpretations are offered to explain the negative correlation between media exposure and political trust. Despite serious efforts, we are unable to falsify the relationship between media exposure and people's attitudes toward government. These findings clearly demonstrate that the propaganda of the regime failed in nurturing supportive sentiment among people in Chinese society in the post-Tiananmen era.     

印尼华人融入当地主流社会的现状、挑战和发展趋势

印尼华人已逐步融入当地主流社会,主要表现在政治上认同印尼为自己的祖国,经济上成为当地民族经济的重要组成部分,社会文化上虽保持华族文化传统习俗但已逐步当地化.尽管如此,华族仍然面临诸多挑战,只有印尼政府执行正确的民族政策,当地社会改变对华人的偏见,华人更积极主动地融入主流社会,中国政府严格区分印尼华人与华侨,这样才能促进印尼华人更快融入当地主流社会.     

Chinese Nationalism and Trust in East Asia

ABSTRACT

China’s rise has been accompanied by a rise in nationalism. But what are the characteristics of this nationalism now being witnessed? Does it support China’s constructive engagement with the international order, or does it seek to assert China’s supremacy? These questions lie at the hub of a rapidly expanding secondary literature on the emergence of nationalism in China and its impact on China’s foreign relations. What is, however, absent from the academic discourse is the voice of the Chinese people themselves. What are their perceptions of the nation-state, and how do these beliefs shape their views of China’s relationship with East Asia? To address this gap, we conducted a series of large-scale surveys in Beijing between 2011 and 2013 on the twinned topics of domestic nationalism and international relations. Our findings, as reported below, represent an initial attempt to answer this final and, arguably, most critical set of questions.     

The Australian Right in the “Asian Century”: Inequality and Implications for Social Democracy

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the policy discourse of Australian right-wing governments, exploring how such governments have combined neo-liberal economic policies with social conservatism, populism, cultural nationalism and forms of authoritarianism. It also examines the resulting response of social democratic political parties. As a predominantly Western country situated in the Asia-Pacific region, Australian experience offers interesting insights into the domestic politics of right-wing governments facing the changing geo-political and geo-economic imperatives of the “Asian Century.” Conservative Australian governments have reasserted traditional Anglo-centric national identity and used competition from key Asian countries to further justify market-driven policies, reduced welfare benefits and reduced industrial relations standards. The social democratic Australian Labor Party has responded to right-wing government policy by placing an increased emphasis on challenging social and economic inequality. However, Labor’s own plans for equitable economic growth potentially underestimate the challenges posed by the intermeshing of the Australian and Asian economies and provide insights into the dilemmas that a changing geo-economics poses for Western social democracy more broadly. Meanwhile Australian conservatism is facing not just challenges from its social democratic opponent but also from far-right populist forces critical of globalisation.     

防范化解政治领域重大风险探析

政治安全是国家安全的根本。维护国家政治安全,是新时代进行伟大斗争的必然要求,是实现中华民族伟大复兴中国梦的重要保障。当前,我国政治安全形势总体保持稳定、向好的基本态势,但同时面临的风险与挑战也是前所未有的,影响政治安全的不利因素日趋复杂。必须坚持底线思维,增强忧患意识,认真贯彻落实总体国家安全观,加强有针对性的防范打击,坚决消除一切影响国家政治安全的隐患,确保党的执政安全和中国特色社会主义制度安全。     

Dualistic Identity, Memory-encoded Norms, and State Emotion: A Social Constructivist Account of Chinese Foreign Relations

By tracing the origin and evolution of Chinese nationalism, this paper finds that the dialectical relationship between the Chinese “self” and the foreign “other” has provided the cultural-institutional context for the construction of its national identity. The positional change of the Chinese actor in the self-other interaction—resulting from the institutional shift from the tianxia order to the Westphalian system—and the consequent national humiliation have been embedded in the Chinese collective memory and given rise to the consensual norms ingrained in the national identity. Viewed through the lens of political sociology and identity politics, China’s tenacious struggle for national rejuvenation can be construed as a social practice guided by these memory-encoded social norms. Due to the protracted and ambivalent nature of the state’s purposive action in attaining great-power status on the international stage, the confidence of the resurgent state is compromised by an acute sense of frustration. This identity predicament has engendered a peculiar Chinese state emotion, which has profoundly influenced the in-group members’ evaluation and perception of out-group entities and their behavior in the antagonistic intergroup relations.     

Authoritarianism And Political Ideas Of Latvian Nationalist Intellectuals

This article explores the authoritarian elements of Eastern European nationalism from an historical point of view. The focus is on the case of Latvian nationalist ideas and particularly the authoritarian nationalism serving the interests of the Kārlis Ulmanis regime between 1934 and 1939. The evidence is collected from the political writings of nationalist intellectuals, who are treated as the authors of Latvian nationalist philosophy. It is concluded that the nationalist intellectuals were willing to accept authoritarianism as a realization of their visions of perfect national existence. Consequently, Latvian nationalism lost its conceptual independence and became an instrument of Ulmanis’ political rhetoric. Thus, the article provides insights about the complex relations between intellectuals and political power.     

Estonian nationalism through the postcolonial lens

ABSTRACT

The article approaches the controversial topics of (post-)Soviet Estonian nationalism from the perspective of Postcolonial Studies, drawing upon nationalism theory, as well as comparative literary and cultural analysis. It is argued that the global context of postcoloniality allows reflective intellectual space that enables analysis of Estonian nationalism’s problems and potential in their cultural and political embeddedness, without idealizing or demonizing it.     

Assessing public opinion’s influence on foreign policy: the case of China’s assertive maritime behavior

ABSTRACT

English-language analysis of Chinese foreign policy has often cited nationalist public opinion as a key driver of Beijing’s recent assertive maritime conduct. Yet these important conjectures have not been systematically tested. How can we know whether public opinion has been driving an authoritarian state’s foreign policy? What are some cases in which concern about popular nationalism may have influenced Beijing’s behavior in disputed maritime spaces? To answer these questions, this article constructs a methodological framework for assessing the likely impact of public opinion on particular instances of state action. Applying this to five cases typical of China’s on-water policy in the South and East China Seas since 2007 indicates that popular nationalism has had little to do with China’s assertive turn on its maritime periphery.     

Eastern industrialization and its effects on the west

There have always been factions within the Chinese Communist Party. Four recent books on China show that the pragmatic basis for the Party's continuing rule is the success of its economic policies and the preservation of law and order. Economic progress has been remarkable, but the political system is not well suited to cope with popular resentment at corruption and the abuse of power by officials. Nor is the concept of. Human Rights well understood. But with more and more |Chinese students studying overseas and the influence of the internet, ideas and influences from abroad are bound to be reflected in the increasing debate about the future of the political system. The recent dismissal and disgrace of Bo Xilai lifts the curtain on the realities of the struggle for power at the top. But a far greater challenge would arise if there were to be any marked and prolonged slowing of economic growth.     

中国共产党忧患意识的传承发展与现实启示

中国共产党是中国近代社会剧烈变革与历史进步的产物,是中国革命、建设和改革事业的领导核心。九十多年来,中国共产党之所以能够领导中国人民取得一个又一个伟大胜利,具有强烈的忧患意识是核心密码。忧患意识是中国共产党重要的精神品质,更是今后能否破解长期执政历史性难题的关键密钥。新中国成立前,中国共产党的忧患意识主要表现为忧民族危亡、忧人民解放、忧党的生存,而新中国成立后主要表现为忧患怎么为广大人民执好政、掌好权,怎样为人民谋幸福、为民族谋复兴。进入新时代,中国共产党必须把长期执政作为一种战略,始终坚持和发展中国特色社会主义不动摇,时刻准备进行具有许多新的历史特点的伟大斗争,牢牢紧扣民心这个最大的政治,推动全面从严治党向纵深发展,一以贯之增强忧患意识、防范风险挑战。     

Taiwan: An Internal Affair! How China’s Domestic Politics and Foreign Policy Interact on the Taiwan Issue?

Taiwan may be an internal affair but the domestic public opinion is not invited to participate very much in a debate and a decision-making process that have remained confined to the Chinese Communist Party and the military top leadership and, on purpose, involves a very small number of officials and experts. Conservative and nationalist forces do constrain Beijing’s Taiwan policy. And some leaders are tempted to use the Taiwan issue for unrelated domestic or foreign policy purpose. Nevertheless, what is striking is the potential for flexibility in China’s Taiwan policy. While Chinese local governments and companies’ increasing interests in business-as-usual in the Strait and the unbearable cost of any armed conflict tend to narrow the government’s options, concentration of power and the efficiency of the propaganda machine allow it to rather smoothly manage, in particular vis-à-vis the elites’ conservative opinion group as well as its own public opinion, this flexibility.     

Nationalism,Domestic Politics,and the Japan Economic Rejuvenation

This article explores the role of nationalism in domestic politics in Japan since 2005 by contrasting the Koizumi and the Abe administration of 2012/2013. It argues that the Koizumi and Abe administrations have exploited nationalism as a means to consolidate political power, move away from faction-based politics toward populism-based politics to weaken factions within the political system with entrenched interests that are counter to or prevent bolder, necessary economic reforms to propel Japan out of 20 years of economic stagnation. Furthermore, this article demonstrates that while each politician has used nationalism to mobilize popular support for their respective administrations, Koizumi’s use of nationalism was to achieve an economic agenda while Abe’s use of nationalism has been used to achieve his political agenda which includes constitutional reform.